More than 100 killed in Afghan battle

August 29, 2007|By From Tribune news services

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday in ground clashes and air strikes that left more than 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops helping to build a bridge, killing three American soldiers, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because not all families had been notified.

The battle in southern Kandahar province's Shah Wali Kot district started after the joint force was ambushed by a large group of insurgents who tried to overrun their position several times, before being strafed, the statement from the coalition said.

"Coalition aircraft destroyed the reinforced enemy emplacements and sniper positions as well as two trucks used to reinforce and resupply the insurgent force," the statement said.

More than 100 suspected insurgents and an Afghan soldier were killed, the statement said. The casualty figures could not be independently verified due to the remoteness of the area.

Violence is soaring in Afghanistan. This year more than 3,900 people -- most of them militants -- have died, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.

Also Tuesday, U.S.-led Afghan troops raided a house near Kandahar city, killing two suspected militants and detaining five others, a coalition statement said.

Those targeted in the raid were accused of facilitating bomb attacks against coalition and Afghan forces in Kandahar, the statement said. The people detained in the raid will be questioned at a military facility before being turned over to Afghan authorities, it said.

In the hostage drama, South Korean negotiators and Taliban leaders reached an agreement that will allow for the release of 19 hostages from a South Korean church who have been held captive by Afghan insurgents for nearly six weeks, officials in Afghanistan said Tuesday.

Officials said that the hostages would be freed within the next few days and that both sides were satisfied with the terms of a deal completed earlier in the day.

"In the very near future, all of the hostages will be released. It is a comprehensive agreement," said Reto Stocker, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Afghanistan. The Red Cross had helped facilitate the negotiations.

South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho Sun explained the terms of the deal that his government's negotiators had struck with the Taliban.

"The two sides reached agreement on the release of all 19 Korean hostages on condition that the Korean government withdraws its troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year and bans missionary work by Korean Christians in Afghanistan," he said.